Description

Assortment of 16 Bound Volumes of The Strand Magazine
from Between 1891-1903, Including the First Ever Strand
Appearance of Sherlock Holmes! (London: George Newnes Ltd.,
1891-1903), various paginations, most in dark green half-leather
with embossed decorative boards and red leather title plates on
spine, last two volumes in unmatched half-leather binding, 8vo
(6.75" x 9.75"). The first volume of this wonderful assortment
contains Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Scandal in Bohemia", the very
first appearance of Sherlock Holmes in the magazine that became
synonymous with the great detective's name. Also included in this
great volume of The Strand are five more wondrous Sherlock
Holmes stories, all eventually collected in The Adventures of
Sherlock Holmes. In fact, the first four volumes (all from
The Adventures) and the last volume (from The Return of
Sherlock Holmes) have Holmes stories in them. The last volume
here includes the 1903 story "The Adventure of the Empty House", in
which Doyle revealed to a Holmes-mad public that the wizard of
Baker Street did not die at the Reichenbach Falls. In truth, Doyle
had hoped to kill off his most successful literary creation, but
the public would not stand for it. Doyle relented, and "The
Adventure of the Empty House" is the first story of the second half
of Sherlock Holmes' career. Accompanying the Holmes-Strand
stories, as always, are Sidney Paget's amazing and seminal Holmes
illustrations. In general, these bound volumes are in good
condition. A number of them display some foxing, mainly at the
beginning and end of the textblocks, and edge, corner, and spine
wear. The spines on five of the volumes have varying degrees of
separation at the hinges, with a couple completely separated.
Still, this assortment of bound volumes offers a unique opportunity
for the Holmes collector to acquire many of the original
Strand stories as they were first presented to the public.